We are keen to enlist the help of volunteers to help out in the Archive, currently undergoing a comprehensive review following the appointment of the School’s first professional archivist, Sally Gilbert, in September 2015. The collection is full of hidden treasures, which we plan to display, digitise and make accessible to a wider audience than previously possible. Volunteers can help with sorting material, listing collections, cleaning artefacts, repackaging documents and photographs to ensure their longevity, answering enquiries on the history of the school, preparing small exhibitions and any other areas of personal expertise.
In brief, collections comprise a broad range of material relating to the history of the School, its pupils and staff and include:
- Several complete sets of the school magazine, The Taylorian, from 1878, together with other school magazines; histories of the school; and registers and school lists.
- A large collection of photographs.
- Programmes for plays, concerts, and events; books by or about old boys (OMTs) and staff; and histories of the school and of the Merchant Taylors’ Company.
- A set of Reports from the school to the Company, 1884-1973.
- First World War material (scrapbooks, letters, photographs etc.)
- The Goad Library, originally assembled by John Goad, headmaster from 1661, who rescued it from the Great Fire in 1666. It has been added to since, particularly with books by or about OMTs.
- Artefacts from the former school museum, for example finds from the excavation in 1952-55 by the school archaeological society of the site of the Manor of the More nearby.
- Uniform (caps, ties and house colours).
Please get in touch with Sally Gilbert on sgilbert@mtsn.org.uk or 01923 845529 if you would like to be part of the archive’s future or if you have any items relating to the history of the School that you would like to donate. The School Archive is currently open 9.30-4pm, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during term time.
Images:
The Orders of the School’s Probation, 1653-61.
Tug of War Challenge Cup, 1878.
Ben Jonson’s signature found in: Pricianus, Grammaticus (Venice: Wendeline of Speier: 1470).
Pupils volunteering in the archive.
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